Ticket to Ride should become the new Monopoly

Ticket to Ride, is a delightful board game from Days of Wonder. A terrific "gateway" game for new gamers, it has simple rules that can be learned in a few minutes, but contains enough strategy and tension to engage beginners and experienced gamers, young and old.

DoW have already issued offical sequels and expansions for Europe, Germany and Switzerland, and multiple unofficial maps have also beeen created by fans.

We all know that Monopoly has hundreds of special editions, for cities other than Atlantic City, to promote movies, amusement parks, and favorite foods.

Valerie Putman, of BoardgameNews.com, has a brilliant idea for the folks at Days of Wonder... special edition collectibles of Ticket to Ride for cities, countries, theme parks, etc.:

Valerie Putman: Ticket to Ride Everywhere

How many of you have gone on vacation and brought home a souvenir to remember the place—perhaps a snow globe or a post card? I know one guy who collects Monopoly games everywhere he goes—and they are out there. You can get a Monopoly themed for just about anything. But what’s the point? They play the same, so additional copies are just for show. Now imagine Ticket to Ride collectibles—with new maps, new tickets, but few if any new rules, available at every tourist attraction and vacation destination. After a trip to Disney World, you pick up a copy of Ticket to Ride Disney and relive your vacation by planning your routes between the amusement park attractions. You have fond memories of your trip to New York City? Break out the Ticket to Ride NYC with subway and bus routes to retrace your steps.

I want to be absolutely clear. I am not being sarcastic about the fact that yet another Ticket to Ride game is available at Essen. I am the queen of Age of Steam and Power Grid maps—I love new ways to play my favorite games. And I think Ticket to Ride is the perfect non-gamer game that should replace monopoly as the one game in every American household. But even better, every time you visit a friend you look forward to playing Ticket to Ride because they have a dozen maps you’ve never seen before—like the one that came free with 12 box tops from Cheerios! The collectors would swoon.

I would expect Days of Wonder and Alan Moon to profit from it, of course, though I admit that I don’t know how licensing deals work. I know that Age of Steam has gained such a following because the maps are seemingly endless, but that this is fraught with legal issues. Surely if Hollywood can figure out how to allow 100 different Batman toys and games, it can be done. I would even like to see a Ticket to Ride Monopoly, with trolley routes in Atlantic City connecting Boardwalk to Park Place to Oriental Avenue!

Hmmm…time to go buy stock in DoW.